O'Reilly's Hat Trick Powers Preds Past Flames

Two nights, two triumphs.

Ryan O’Reilly recorded his sixth-career hat trick to lead the Nashville Predators past the Calgary Flames by a 4-1 final on Saturday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The result gives the Preds a perfect back-to-back set to start 2025 following last night’s triumph in Vancouver - and their 999th victory in franchise history.

Fedor Svechkov also tallied in the win, and Justus Annunen made 31 saves to help Nashville to their second win in as many nights, a satisfying ending to a challenging 48 hours in two tough buildings to enter.

“That's a big win,” O’Reilly said. “Anytime you get two points, you’ve got to feel good about it. I know our first period was not good at all. ‘Bruno’ came in and let us know it, too, and we felt it. And obviously Annunen was unbelievable as he gave us a chance to keep us in the game. We finally got a little bit going, and special teams kind of gave us that spark that we needed to take control of the game, and we were able to find a way. But yeah, two points is two points. And you've got to build on this and continue on.”

“It wasn't our prettiest,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “[After the first period], we were a little bit opportunistic on the power play. Made some plays when we had to, was nice to see the hat trick. I thought our goaltender was outstanding. That was a really unselfish play by [Steven Stamkos] to hit [O’Reilly for this third goal]. And when you do those things…you build your connection with your group. So, I think there's some things; the [Marchessault] fight that kind of sparks it. So there's a lot of things that are trending, that we’re growing the chemistry of the group here, and it was nice to get a win. We know we can play a little bit better, but we'll take it and get out of here.”

Neither team found the back of the net in the opening 20 minutes - and Nashville mustered just three shots on goal - but in the second stanza, O’Reilly took over.

His first power-play goal of the night came off a feed from Svechkov who drove to the net and threw it back in front into traffic where O’Reilly neatly backhanded a shot past Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf for a 1-0 lead. O’Reilly then doubled that count with a second tally on the man advantage, this time off a Jonathan Marchessault feed midway through the middle frame.

“The first one, [Forsberg] makes a great play,” O’Reilly said. “[Svechkov] comes in and just taps, I'm just going to the net and…it wasn't anything fancy, just tried to snap it at the net. And lucky for me, it went in. And then the second one, the guys make a good play, just hanging out in the right spot where it comes to me and…bang it home. So, it's nothing too fancy, but those kind of bounces that we needed to kind of get a little life in this game, because it wasn't easy by any means. They played hard, and they probably outplayed us for most of it, but special teams got it done tonight. And again, Annunen’s just unbelievable in the pipes.”

Before the second period was out, Mikael Backlund’s clapper beat Annunen to get Calgary on the board headed into the third.

In that final frame, the Preds owned perhaps the most notable sequence of the night. Marchessault, Nashville’s leading goal scorer, dropped the gloves with Calgary’s Matt Coronato for a spirited scrap that certainly energized the Predators bench.

Then, just three seconds later, Svechkov took the puck right off the faceoff and placed a beautiful backhander past Wolf for his third-career goal - and first of his second stint with the Preds - to put things away for good.

“That was huge,” O’Reilly said of the fight. “I think that's the emotion that we're, as a group, kind of lacking in the first period. And you see [us] being competitive, [he] drops the gloves like that… It shows the fire, and then [Svechkov] steps up, gets a huge goal right off the face off…that kind of gave us that life that, like, ‘Hey, we're going to win this game.’ And it was just a huge play by both of them.”

“Much more confident,” Svechkov said of being back with the Preds for the second time in his career. “Because the first time, you're [so nervous]. It's more difficult than it seems, especially for me. I don't know how [it is] for different guys, but I felt like I wasn't myself the first time. It's nice to be around these guys, but you're not feeling that you're part of the real NHL, you know? So this time, I felt like, ‘Oh, I’ve got to grind my spot.’ So, I came with more confidence. More pressure to myself, more demand of myself on the ice, so it helps me. I think this time is much better than the first.”

Stamkos unselfishly found O’Reilly late in the game, and with an empty net, Nashville’s alternate captain completed his second hat trick as a member of the Preds to send the visitors away happy.

“He does everything,” Brunette said of O’Reilly. “I mean, he's as good as [any] player there is in the League. You feel comfortable when he’s on the ice at all times, and he has a knack for [making] big plays at big moments. And he's done it his whole career, and he showed us again tonight. He still has it.”

The trip will conclude on Tuesday night in Winnipeg, and the Preds would love nothing more than to stay perfect in the new year. A back-to-back like this can certainly lead to something positive, and the hope is the Predators will have two more points packed by the time they head home.

“We’ve got to put a run together,” O’Reilly said. “And we need every point we can get. I think tonight, obviously, two huge ones, and to go back-to-back to two teams that played hard… It wasn't easy by any means, but it's what we’ve got to do: finally win games if you want to climb back at this point.”

Notes:

Nashville iced the same lineup in Calgary as they did Friday night in Vancouver. Tommy Novak (upper body) and Jeremy Lauzon (lower body) remained out with injuries and are both considered day-to-day. Winger Zach L’Heureux also missed Saturday’s contest as he served the second of his three-game suspension.

The Predators will conclude their five-game jaunt away from home - and sixth overall - when they return to Winnipeg to face the Jets on Tuesday night. The Preds will be back at Bridgestone Arena next Saturday night to host Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals.